The life of the early believers and church was most unusual. It was a far cry from the way the church and its believers live today. Yet, as we study their lives, we get a clear picture of the essentials for living together and for fulfilling the mission of the Lord.
The first thing we see is that the early church was of one heart and of one mind. READ v. 32. In the original Greek manuscript is literally says, “the heart and the soul were one.” The person’s whole being was one with all other believers. What we talked about last time they fully had—oneness, one accord, love, unity, harmony.
And remember, there were multitudes, thousands of believers at this time. How in the world can a body of people achieve one heart and one mind and become so unified? Well this verse reveals how.
The early believers gave their heart and mind to Jesus’ Lordship and mission. They believed, truly believed, that Jesus had died for their sins, had risen from the dead, had been exalted to the right hand of God, had commissioned them to go forth helping people, and He was to return and reward believers for being faithful to the mission of saving and ministering to people.
They were thoroughly convinced of the mission of Christ, of the great commission so they gave all they were to speak the Word of God. Nothing, not even threats and persecution, could keep them from proclaiming the Word and carrying out the mission of Christ. The point is they knew Jesus to be the Lord, so they gave their lives to be His servants. They surrendered themselves totally to the Lordship of Christ.
Jesus prayed, in John 17:22-23, that we might be one, even as He and the Father are one: “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
But for that to happen many walls have to fall down. Suspicion has to be replaced with openness; uncertainty has to be replaced with willingness; and fear has to be replaced with love. On the day of Pentecost, that is precisely what happened — the barriers came falling down. The Holy Spirit of God moved in and produced a wonderful unity in that first group of believers.
Our text today describes the extent of that unity as it existed at the very beginning. For a while, they were allowed to live in the glorious oneness which only the Spirit can produce. I believe this sense of community can be recaptured today when we allow Christ to be Lord, and surrender to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our personal lives.
I believe that deep down within us, we all long to be close, to be part of the same family, to be in tune -- and in touch with one another. Acts 4:32-35 gives us an inside look at how the church cared for other believers. In this passage, we see 3 different degrees of their unity: ¬ they had a mystical unity, a ministerial unity, and a material unity. We’ll also discover three principles that can help us experience that same depth of unity today.
A Mystical Unity
Let’s begin by looking at 4:32: “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.”
When the Holy Spirit of God took charge of the lives of these believers on the day of Pentecost, He produced a mystical unity among them. They were experiencing a oneness, a unity which they could never have produced on their own. This diverse multitude that had gathered from all nations and tongues had been melted together by divine love into a union which was mystical in nature and divine in origin. Those things, which before had divided them, now faded away. They had met the Lord. They were together and they were one.
Notice the three words mentioned in the first part of this verse: “believers,” “heart”, and “mind.” Unity was evident in those three areas. It was a unity of faith, a unity of emotions, and a unity of will. Notice that the "believers" were one. They were one with each other because they believed the same thing. They had placed their faith in Jesus and now were attempting to live out that faith.
There can be no fellowship without correct belief. 1 John 1:7 says, "But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another." It is only as we walk in the light of the truth of God’s Word that we can enjoy true fellowship with one another. A common faith unites us. So if a common faith unites us, why can’t we all get along? What’s up with that? And most of you know what I’m talking about.
They were not only united by their faith, they were also united in heart. Their faith had brought them together and now their every desire was to follow Jesus Christ. They desired to express His love and to share that love with every human being they met. What had begun in faith had made its way to their hearts. They not only believed it intellectually and accepted it by faith, but they knew it to be true experientially. Because of the love of Jesus for them, they had fallen in love with Him; and along with Him, every other believer as well.
Now they could call one another brother and sister because they were in one family. I did some research this week: did you know that the word “brother” occurs over 200 times in the New Testament ¬ beginning in the Book of Acts? When the church was launched, terms like brother and sister were used because they were the best terms to describe the new relationships that now existed among believers. They could express the love and care and concern for one another freely and openly. The barriers had fallen down and they were one — one in faith and one in heart.
But they were also one in mind. The mind has to do with our decision-making processes. They not only believed the same things, and had a desire to follow Jesus -- they made a decision to do so together ¬in community with one another. They decided to follow through on what had happened to them. They were willing to acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and all the other believers as their family. If we, as the Church of Jesus Christ, are ever going to express the unity of the Spirit, we must not only desire to do so, we must decide to do so.
It says, in the last part of verse 32, "No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had." They acknowledged to one another that they were one. They said, "What’s mine is yours; what’s yours is mine. We’re together in this thing." Only God could do this. This was a mystical unity — something born of God, begun by the Holy Spirit and carried on in His power.
Is it possible to have this same kind of unity today? I believe it is. But it’s something which can only be done by the power of the Spirit of God working in the hearts of people committed to Him. We can experience this kind of unity when we yield to the Holy Spirit to produce it in us. But it will never happen until we allow God to let it happen in us.
Do you value community over isolation? Are you committed to your brothers and sisters here? Even when they do stuff you don’t like? When you’re hurting, are you willing to swallow your pride and talk to a brother or sister about it? Are you available to have someone else confide in you, or have you effectively isolated yourself from others? If we want SEBC to be a caring church, then we must value community over isolation.
A Ministerial Unity. READ v. 33
We move from a mystical unity to a ministerial unity. These people were not only one in spirit, they were one in purpose. And their purpose was to preach the Gospel to every creature. It says here, that the apostles were giving witness "with great power." It says further, "much grace was upon them all." They were experiencing great power and great grace. Because of the great power which they now possessed, they could give effective and powerful witness to the grace of God. And when they did so, even greater grace was shed upon them.
There is nothing quite like a church that is united in purpose. Unity in terms of our ministry produces an even greater sense of community among us. That’s why it’s so important to move from a mystical unity of spirit into a practical unity of purpose. Otherwise, we will quickly become inward and introspective. And when that happens, it’s only a short time until we lose the unity altogether. The whole purpose of our being one is not to bask in our oneness, but to join together in a common purpose. We’re a community but we’ve also been given a cause,¬ a job to do. There is work to be done. There is a Great Commission to be fulfilled.
If we want what the early church had, then we must value ministry over selfishness. The first church experienced ministerial unity because they valued ministry over selfishness. If SEBC is not careful, we will have so many factions of the church doing their own thing that we become divided in our purpose.
Our mystical unity comes as the result of the Holy Spirit’s action in our lives. Our ministerial unity comes as the result of our decision to pull together to accomplish our cause.
If SEBC is going to have unity of purpose, then we need everyone on board, pulling together, sharing the load. We have to decide that the overall purpose for which we are shooting is important enough to give ourselves in more than a casual way. We must decide to do so. We need to be completely committed and sold-out to the fellowship. And we absolutely are NOT. We must decide that we are going to give more than our spare time to the endeavor, that we will be supportive, involved, active participants in the task God has called us to.
A Material Unity
Look with me now at 4:34-35: READ.
We have seen a mystical unity produced by the power of the Holy Spirit, a ministerial unity which resulted from a decision to fulfill the commission of Jesus, and now, third, we see a material unity which happened because of the love of Christ.
Notice the spontaneous expression of that unity. In order to provide for the needs of all among them, those who had possessions sold them and laid them at the apostles’ feet so that they could distribute the money to those in need. As a result, no one lacked anything. This was a spontaneous expression of what God had done in their hearts. Their unity led them to voluntarily and joyfully share with others.
They valued people over possessions. This is something which was born from within, not something which was imposed from without. They cared, and so they gave. This passage is not to be taken as God commanding everyone to sell their possessions and live in a communal society. But He is telling us, quite clearly, that our possessions are only a means by which His work can be accomplished. They are not ours, they are His, and we ought to hold them in such a way that when He desires to use them, we are able to give them gladly.
You can tell quite a lot about a person’s Christianity by his or her giving. People who are truly surrendered to Christ reflect their commitment in their giving. If Jesus Christ has your heart, He has your checkbook as well. If He doesn’t have your wallet, He doesn’t really have your heart. There are many things that we aspire to do for Christ, which we may not be able to do, even though we have the desire. But one thing all of us have within our power to do is to give.
What happened in the life of the early Church can happen to us. We can be filled with the Spirit’s power, united in vision, united in purpose, united in our love and concern for one another. We can demonstrate mystical unity, ministerial unity, and material unity. We can become people who make a difference in this world, if we are people in whose lives Christ has made a difference.
A few years ago at the Seattle Special Olympics, 9 contestants, all physically or mentally challenged, assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. At the gun, the contestants all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run the race to the finish and win.
All, that is, except one boy who stumbled on the track, tripped, rolled over a couple times and began to cry. The others, who were running ahead of the boy, heard him crying so they slowed down and looked back at him. Then they all turned around and went back. Every one of them. One girl with Down’s Syndrome bent down and kissed him and said, “This will make it better.” Then all 9 linked arms and walked together to the finish line. Everyone in the stadium stood and cheered for over 10 minutes.
People who were there still talk about what happened. Why? Because deep down ¬ we know this one thing: What matters in this life is more than winning for ourselves. What truly matters is helping others win.
